Cassava Root.

Well, here's our misadventure at our house for yesterday: one of my brilliant spawn ate some cassava root RAW, which we all know ( or at least I assume most of us know, has cyanide in it and has to be cooked to neutralize it and is toxic if eaten raw and can kill you). The child shall remain nameless; they were so embarrassed at their gaffe they didn't even want me to post it but my family doesn't know about this blog anyway but just in case I'm not going to say which one of the kids it was, to protect their privacy from public humiliation but anyone who knows our family personally will probably be able to guess who it was as this particular individual gets into situations like this alot. So, this kid walks up to me and offers me some saying basically look what new and interesting food they picked up at the store and would I like to try some....and I looked at it and recogized it as the cassava root and so I warned them, That looks like a cassava root.....I hope you didn't eat that RAW....and I went on to explain why. and then they said yes, they did, a couple of big slices, like a cucumber.....

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.....

So I called poison control.How much, exactly is lethal? The kid didn't know what it was (this particular offspring has a habit of picking up new and unknown exotic foods and trying them....which is a good thing, trying new food.....except if you don't know what something is or how to safely prepare it you shouldn't eat it. He probably thought it was sonething like a yam or a parsnip but still, the general rule of survival is if you don't know what it is it might not be safe, it might be poison, so don't eat it, like when you're in the woods; don't eat berries if you don't know what they are or "mushrooms" that might actually be poisonous toadstools...) and the guy on the other end asked how old the child was and when I said he was trying to stifle a laugh, because, you know, most kids that ingest accidental poison are under 6. He said it shouldn't have been enough to kill ,thank God, given the amount ingested and the weight of the kid, but told me the symptoms to look out for: extreme vomiting and diarrhrea, breathing trouble, racing heart, extreme lethargy and to call 9-1-1 or go right to the ER but thankfull everything was OK.

THIS is why I likely have high BP and ulcers. A mother also never stops being a mother or stops worrying about her kids and their health, safety, and well-being even once they've grown up.